1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to discrete circuit components and the method of fabrication. In particular, the present invention relates to a structure for discrete circuit components having a lateral-bonding up-right circuit die and the method of fabrication for such discrete components.
2. Description of Related Art
Active and passive discrete circuit components such as diodes, resistors, capacitors and inductors are widely used for the construction of electronic circuits. Regardless of either signal or power, or, linear or digital applications, different types of discrete circuit components are essential for the construction of various electronic circuit systems. Along with their counterparts fabricated inside integrated circuit (IC) devices, diodes, resistors, capacitors and inductors in the form of discrete circuit components are produced and consumed in mass quantities.
Circuit components of the discrete type are available in many different packages. For miniaturization, discrete circuit components produced to the standard of SMT (Surface-Mount Technology) have become the indispensable components in modern electronics industry. SMT discrete components are used for the production of almost all sorts of electronic devices regardless of whether or not they are of miniature designs. Many discrete component structural designs to the SMT standard and their corresponding fabrication methods have thus been developed.
Among the conventional SMT discrete circuit components popularly used nowadays, their efficient automated mass production requirement has led to the development and the adoption of a general structural configuration with lie-down flat circuit die. An SMT discrete component of this type has a basic structure constructed starting with its circuit component die laid flat on the surface of a substrate. Eventually the circuit die is buried in a protective material, with electrical connection means extending out from the terminals of the circuit die on the top and bottom surfaces thereof to the surface electrodes of the SMT component.
However, an SMT discrete circuit component of such a lie-flat die structural configuration has inherent problems. It is relatively more vulnerable to thermal and mechanical stresses arising from both its fabrication and service phases. During the fabrication phase, for example, a circuit component die at its assigned location on the surface of the substrate of a large two-dimensional array (or, matrix) may crack away from both or either of its electrical contacts with the electrical connection means. These electrical contact faults or failures in the form of micro cracking are likely due to factors including the inevitable die size and plate thickness and flatness tolerances.
Baking/heating processing for the component fabrication is the source for thermal stresses to the structure of each and every component still uncut from its arrayed location. Within the mass array, each circuit die is placed into its assigned location to a tolerance, and the substrate at each die location has a thickness also to a tolerance. As thermal stresses arise from fabrication processing, the die height tolerance in the Z axis (perpendicular to the plane of the mass matrix) and the positional tolerance in the X-Y plane (of the matrix) for each circuit die, together, result into twisting stresses that can not be estimated in precision. Such stresses are the main cause for the undesirable micro cracking in the structure.